The 4 Ways Mastermind Groups Can Accelerate Your Business Growth

Navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship on your own can be challenging. But more importantly, it's far from recommended.

Even the most experienced executives understand that there's a limit to the areas they can truly be expert in and surround themselves with others who can effectively fill their gaps.

One excellent way to identify and address your blind spots involves meeting regularly with business owners who run similar companies. In other words, joining a mastermind group.

What Is a Mastermind Group?

A mastermind group is an organized meeting of like-minded individuals (in this context, entrepreneurs) who discuss problems and solutions. The goal of mastermind membership is both to give and receive support for the sake of each member's growth.

Mastermind groups follow a specific structure in order to facilitate the productive use of time for all members. Typically, they involve a limited number of members (so each person has the opportunity to participate), regular meetings and a set agenda.

Here are four reasons why you should consider joining one of these groups and some tips on how to structure them for best results.

1. They're a Goldmine of Wisdom, Empathy and Support

Being an entrepreneur—especially when running a remote business—can feel lonely.

Whether or not you report to a physical office, cultivating a network of like-minded business owners can alleviate the feeling of isolation at the top.

You can either opt to start your own mastermind or join an existing group. In either situation, finding people with whom you can be open and share honest and direct feedback is crucial.

Great masterminds should also provide members with a safe space to find support. For instance, requiring everyone to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) helps protect everyone's personal and business interests and ensures that group members don't share sensitive details outside the group.

2. You Can Tap Into Diverse Perspectives From Like-Minded People

Meeting regularly with other successful and motivated entrepreneurs helps us avoid getting trapped in our own echo chambers. Asking for help while also being able to give back advice has, in many ways, radically altered the way I run my business.

It's helped me make decisions more quickly and iterate to grow more efficiently than if I were operating completely on my own. It's also helped reinforce choices I've made when observing other group members who have benefitted from my experience.

And that still doesn't account for the greatest outcome of joining masterminds: being able to develop meaningful relationships with fellow entrepreneurs I have a lot of respect for. I think they'd say the same for their experience in these groups we occupy together.

So far, I've been a member of two long-term mastermind groups:

• The first was a group of professionals operating various business entities in the WordPress space who shared the goal of earning a minimum take-home salary of $100,000/year.
• I'm currently a member of a group of women entrepreneurs operating high-earning businesses in the content/marketing space.

In both situations, I've benefitted from totally different perspectives and received targeted support around the nature of each group's central focus—while also having the opportunity to share my experience for each group and member's benefit.

What's worked so well about these groups is that the members, despite each taking different paths to get to where they are, truly had common ground with each other.

That's why I suggest having a standard in mind for the membership of your business mastermind—whether you're creating one or joining an existing group.

Just remember to be flexible. It's okay to select people in the same industry or a similar stage of business growth as you, but they don't have to be exact matches. In fact, it's probably better to have some variation versus a completely homogenous membership.

When there are slight differences between members' business models, perhaps involving complementary offerings, it allows for truly interesting and valuable discussions from a variety of perspectives.

Furthermore, if group members are in relatively similar stages of business growth, having some who are just ahead or behind others in the group can be motivating.

3. There's a Structure for Giving and Receiving Help

The reality is, as entrepreneurs, we are all trying to accomplish a lot with limited time. That's why effective mastermind groups have participants create and adhere to an agreed-upon and standardized structure.

Not only does creating this structure show respect for everyone involved, but it also gives participants clear roles in the activities planned.

Here are some basic guidelines for structuring a great mastermind meeting:

• Set a time limit and stick to it to be cognizant of everyone's time. My mastermind groups meet once or twice monthly, from one hour to an hour and a half per meeting.
• Set a membership limit. In my experience, four members is the sweet spot for the target time limits. It's okay, encouraged even, for membership to turn over from time to time—everyone benefits from fresh perspectives.
• Set an agenda ahead of time and designate someone to act as a moderator who keeps the conversation moving in a way that allows everyone equitable time to talk during the call. Allow some time at the beginning for small talk to nurture personal connections.
• Ask each member to set a specific goal at the end of the meeting. Then, at the beginning of the next meeting, recap goal progress since last time.

For best results, give one of the members the "hot seat" in each meeting.

With this structure, every other member is allotted a short period of time to give their updates and receive feedback. This meeting's focus can be, for example, addressing a big-picture issue where the member in the hot seat seeks in-depth feedback.

The next person in the hot seat should be notified with sufficient time before the meeting so they can come prepared to make effective use of the opportunity. In my masterminds, this designation is typically announced at the end of the ongoing meeting.

4. Increases Accountability and Helps Develop Problem-Solving Skills

Mastermind groups help with accountability and problem-solving by providing a space to share challenges and work together to find solutions.

From my own experience participating in mastermind groups, I was always motivated to come prepared with progress reports regarding the previous issues we discussed.

I wanted to show my fellow entrepreneurs that I took our conversations and their support seriously. I certainly didn't want to be the only group member who didn't do their "homework"!

Meeting regularly, either in person or virtually, ensures that group members are held accountable to each other. In tackling issues that arise in each other's businesses, members create a supportive environment that reinforces progress.

Build Community To Grow Your Business

Joining a mastermind group can be a valuable way to grow your business, develop a supportive community and improve accountability and problem-solving. If you've yet to give them a try, I challenge you to join or start a mastermind group of your own to take your business to the next level in 2023 and beyond.

About the Author

Maddy Osman is the author of Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style. Maddy's journey from freelance writer to founder and CEO of The Blogsmith yielded numerous insights to share about content creation for enterprise B2B technology brands. Her efforts earned her a spot in BuzzSumo's and Semrush's Top 100 Content Marketers and The Write Life's 100 Best Websites for Writers. She has spoken for audiences at WordCamp US, SearchCon, and Denver Startup Week.